The proposed studies will investigate the sources of attitudes toward the aged within the United States. In particular, they will examine the extent to which various concomitants, of age (e.g. unemployment, low income, less physical attractiveness, and poor health) influence attitudes. Recent research has suggested that negative evaluations of the elderly may be caused by such socially undesirable characteristics rather than by chronological age alone. The presence or absence of these concomitants will be crossed with the chronological age of a specifically described stimulus person within traditional social psychological designs. The effect of the sex and competence level of the stimulus person, as well as that of the age and sex of the subjects, on attitudes toward the aged will also be investigated. Several methodological refinements of past research in this area will be made. Attitudes will be assessed using several different types of measures, including those which tap stereotypes, positive or negative evaluations, attraction, behavioral intentions and attributions.